Would this center be an upgrade?

[lovinthehd]

Overall I'm curious just how much your change in center will make. When I moved my 520 aside for the Infinity RC263, I didn't get any particular improvement in dialog intelligibility (but wasn't having issues because of the 520 in that regard either).

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Overall I'm curious just how much your change in center will make. When I moved my 520 aside for the Infinity RC263, I didn't get any particular improvement in dialog intelligibility (but wasn't having issues because of the 520 in that regard either).

I’m curious too. The one thing I would want in a CC speaker change would be more dynamic range. Not that I’ve heard mine strain, but just for the idea I guess.

 

[lovinthehd]

I’m curious too. The one thing I would want in a CC speaker change would be more dynamic range. Not that I’ve heard mine strain, but just for the idea I guess.

I tend to think of the RC263 as simply being a bit more capable....but no night/day differences after swapping the new speaker in and running setup....

 

[Hetfield]

I'm sure in the end chasing after a 3 way center nothing will change and then I'll chalk it up to source material. It'll be another rabbit hole in this crazy hobby we have all chose to be in. I like the 520 as I said, just sometimes the dialog gets lost and is hard to hear dialog. I only listen at -20 so maybe that's the issue. Oh we are all nuts in this hobby, nuts. ‍

 

[Trell]

When I replaced my 2.5 way horizontal center speaker with a bookshelf the dialogue was improved, especially when not sitting in MLP.

 

[Hetfield]

Ok so I picked up the JBL S-center II tonight. It's in great shape, drivers are perfect. 41 bucks and local pickup worked out perfectly. I haven't hooked it up yet, just didn't want to get into it tonight but I'm off tomorrow to hook it up, run Audyssey and see what a 3 way center does. I'm off till Tuesday so I will have plenty of time to evaluate.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Ok so I picked up the JBL S-center II tonight. It's in great shape, drivers are perfect. 41 bucks and local pickup worked out perfectly. I haven't hooked it up yet, just didn't want to get into it tonight but I'm off tomorrow to hook it up, run Audyssey and see what a 3 way center does. I'm off till Tuesday so I will have plenty of time to evaluate.

Looking forward to your thoughts!

 

[Hetfield]

Looking forward to your thoughts!

Can't wait to get it going tomorrow! And then let everyone know.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Can't wait to get it going tomorrow! And then let everyone know.

Hope you love it!

 

[Kleinst]

Man $41, would you all agree that it's kind of worth the entertainment factor alone even if it doesn't work out? I think so.

 

[Hetfield]

Ok boys I hooked it up and ran a test to make sure she was in working order and drivers were good. All is good and it's in pristine shape.
I'm watching Indiana Jones and the last crusade which is very tough to hear dialog wise but this thing is cutting through perfectly. I even lowered the DB by 2 because I felt it was that much louder than the 520C and it's still perfectly intelligible. I don't want to go too far here till I run Audyssey but so far damn good, big difference.

 

[Trell]

You’ve tried sitting on the side? When I’m slouching in the couch watching series my head is aligned with my front speakers and this is what I noticed the biggest improvement with using a bookshelf for center speaker.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Ok boys I hooked it up and ran a test to make sure she was in working order and drivers were good. All is good and it's in pristine shape.
I'm watching Indiana Jones and the last crusade which is very tough to hear dialog wise but this thing is cutting through perfectly. I even lowered the DB by 2 because I felt it was that much louder than the 520C and it's still perfectly intelligible. I don't want to go too far here till I run Audyssey but so far damn good, big difference.

Sweet! I’d say at least five more movies are in order.

 

[Mark E. Long]

Ok boys I hooked it up and ran a test to make sure she was in working order and drivers were good. All is good and it's in pristine shape.
I'm watching Indiana Jones and the last crusade which is very tough to hear dialog wise but this thing is cutting through perfectly. I even lowered the DB by 2 because I felt it was that much louder than the 520C and it's still perfectly intelligible. I don't want to go too far here till I run Audyssey but so far damn good, big difference.

Hope this works out for you I’ve always considered the S-centers to be very good if anything they can project a very pronounced dialogue and I had mine turned down too after calibration. I’ve never seen one reviewed Can’t vouch for there measurements but do have lots of firsthand knowledge of there quality sound wise.
That’s a total steal for 41 bucks give it time to settle in after calibration ohh and it will handle a lot of power too a good bit more than it’s rated for . I’ve never noticed anything bad off axis listening wise at least when I had one in my main room . Iam sure you will be very surprised with its performance .

 

[lovinthehd]

The S Center II has a spec'd sensitivity of 91dB vs the 520's 88 dB...and you're still running it with the eq for the 520....curious how it will be after you re-run it....

 

[Mark E. Long]

The S Center II has a spec'd sensitivity of 91dB vs the 520's 88 dB...and you're still running it with the eq for the 520....curious how it will be after you re-run it....

If it’s anything like I remember Yapo set it very flat eq on my setup but it always set it at 0 gain on calibration and I’d did turn it up a db or two then after a few movies I’d go back and turn it back down lol .

 

[Eppie]

$41 instead of $40? Was the guy short of coffee money?
Good find!

 

[Hetfield]

Ok wow, Audyssey set the new center channel at -5. I guess it's that efficient. And at -5, it's still sounds intelligible, easy to hear dialog.

 

[Mark E. Long]

Ok wow, Audyssey set the new center channel at -5. I guess it's that efficient. And at -5, it's still sounds intelligible, easy to hear dialog.

That’s a good find that’s why I still use two in my garage setup . Yes very efficient and the matching bookshelves the S-38’s are just as good too still use both in my garage which don’t get used much and I use them for height channels ( S-38’s) in my main house room rig .
I await your thoughts after you’ve become accustomed to it .

 

[lovinthehd]

Ok wow, Audyssey set the new center channel at -5. I guess it's that efficient. And at -5, it's still sounds intelligible, easy to hear dialog.

I wonder why you found the 520 so much poorer on speech more than I did, positioning perhaps? Altho a bigger 3way center is a good thing....